The Cars of RoboCop: A Guide to Murphy's Metal

The original RoboCop was no more a "car movie" than Bullitt, but like Bullitt, the cars of RoboCop got their own special recognition among car fans. Whether the original Ford Taurus, in all of its car-of-tomorrow glory, or the Pontiac-needling 6000 SUX stuck in your mind, RoboCop enjoys a place on the car guy's movie list.

The RoboCop reboot, in theaters now, is less a car movie than the original. There is, we're sorry to report, no 6000 SUX, likely a casualty of the decision to replace the parody advertisements of the original movie with a Glenn Beck-like character and his political commentary show. Though the cars may take a backseat to RoboCop's new motorcycle, they're still visually important.Read our Full Interview with RoboCop production designer Martin Whist Here

"We're in the future, but only slightly in the future, and because we're not so far in the future they can't look entirely different, but we are in the future so they do need to look different," RoboCop Production Designer and vehicle designer, Martin Whist, told Motor Trend. "RoboCop is a 'reality-based' film in the sense that we still are in Detroit, it's still a city like it's a city right now, it's mainly the technology that changes in that short a timeframe from now to the movie. In that respect, the RoboCop world is very similar to our world out there on the streets right now, so the vehicles, when you're in an urban setting, you see more vehicles than anything else. It plays a very important visual role in the film."

Designing for the near future meant keeping the modifications somewhat subtle, but also somewhat obvious.

"In the history of car design, really en masse -- there's exceptions to it -- it goes from a rectilinear sort of shape to a more streamlined, curve-linear shape. That's just what I continued on. I filled wheel wells and I shaved off handles and changed rearview mirrors and changed the lines and tinting on the glass and made them all electric (conceptually speaking, as the drivetrains were not altered). Of course, that changed the grille styles and essentially made everything a little more streamlined and aerodynamic-looking, which is the most glaring change when you look at it. In the interior of all our vehicles, the dashes had to be changed and made extremely digital and away from analog as much as we could."Here's our handy spotter's guide with input from Whist, so you'll know what to look for between the bullets.

RoboCop's Motorcycle"I love that he is solo and independent and to me it's sort of a radical, more aggressive statement putting him on his own vehicle by himself, because he really is a lone soldier out there," said Whist.Starting with a Kawasaki Ninja 1000, Whist modified the street bike to look longer, sleeker, and tougher. It's emblazoned with police logos and, to drive the point home, numerous red and blue flashing lights."I modified its wheelbase," said Whist. "I lengthened it so it had a larger and more aggressive appearance on the road so he could actually lean forward on it with his feet back. I just like that bullet, aerodynamic sort of look. That made it difficult for the stunt drivers to do what a motorcycle can do. It became a little longer and the turning radius was harder, it got affected. It was heavier. It still rode, and the stunt drivers rode it amazingly, but it couldn't do all the kinds of tricks and stuff a motorcycle can do."

Detroit Police CruiserPaying homage to the original film wasn't a mandate when it came to sets and props, but being fans of the original, the crew made the connections where possible. As with the original film, Ford didn't supply the police vehicles, but Whist used them anyway. A streamlined look, some stylish push bars, and some lights make the Ford Taurus look a little more futuristic, if not a bit tougher to boot."I was looking to redo those police vehicles and I was looking for affordable body styles and it just happened to be that the Taurus that is out right now is sort of an affordable, everyday vehicle, but it has a great look to it, sort of an aggressive stance on the road," said Whist. "It's a muscular [look] that's not over-the-top. I didn't want to do the Charger and all that, that is on the roads right now, so I chose the Taurus because one, I like the way it looked and I looked at it as a really good starting point for these police vehicles, and also because it was in the original film. That was just an extra bonus."

OmniCorp Armored TruckThe Terrardyne Gurkha armored truck already looks pretty menacing, not to mention a bit futuristic with its Countach-aping wheel arches. A set of official OmniCorp stickers and some red-and-blue police lights were all that was needed to get this truck ready for action.

Alex Murphy's Car
Before he gets a nearly unstoppable robot body and a sweet motorcycle, Alex Murphy is just a hard-working cop and family man. He lives in the suburbs and drives a sensible family sedan. It started life as a Kia Optima and ended it as a burning hulk.

Clara Murphy's CarAlex's wife is a suburban mom with a young child to think about, so she drives something with space for all the soccer gear suburban kids come with. She drives a standard-issue mom car, which started life as a Toyota Venza and actually looks better as retro-future wagon with its saucer hub caps and hidden rear wheels.

Detroit Police HatchbacksWhy a Dodge Caliber? Whist has a simple answer: "For the look of it and the accessibility of it. It just seemed to work." You have to admit, with the armor plating, flashing lights, push bars, and flat-black-and-white police livery, the little Caliber actually looks tougher.

OmniCorp Troop TransportIn RoboCop's world, OmniCorp builds military androids that replace human soldiers on the battlefield and the company hopes to expand into the civilian police market. As with human soldiers, they need to be moved in bulk to the action, though unlike humans, they don't need protection from the elements. This Swiss Pinsgauer military truck was refitted as a riot-control vehicle and troop transport.The RestIf you look closely, you can pick out a number of other vehicles throughout the movie. OmniCorp also uses lightly modified Dodge Durangos as security vehicles and RoboCop is occasionally driven around in a modified Chevy Suburban. One of the bad guys drives a supercar, though only a portion of it is visible in the frame. It appears to be an Audi R8. Another rocks a first-gen Porsche Cayenne. Then there are the little Easter Eggs."There's a few that I got for background," says Whist. "I got these Japanese cars and some European cars that just had a different look you don't see in North America. A lot of them were just place-them-in-the-background cars."